The Vontaze Burfict thing got me wondering about something. If you get fined or suspended enough in the NFL, does it affect your life going forward after football?

So I looked up his lifetime contracts and fines on spotrac, and made the following additional assumptions:

Assume that 3 percent of all money goes to agents off the top, and another 42 percent for taxes (a rough guess, but let's go with it).

Assume that the player has a 50 percent savings rate on the net income. In other words, they're living on half of their money and putting the remainder into their post-NFL savings fund. Obviously that's a rough guess as well that will vary wildly from player to player, but let's go with it.

I'll then assume that the savings at the end can be used to fund living expenses in perpetuity by spending 4 percent of it per year.

Fines and suspension come off the top line, presumably after agent fees, so in the case of Vontaze Burfict:


Burfict

Years in League 8
Contracts $33,480,000
Wealth After Agent Fees $32,475,600
Fines $5,367,000
Wealth After Fines $27,108,600
Wealth After Taxes $15,722,988
Spending $7,861,494
Savings After Spending $7,861,494

Average Annual Spending in Playing Career $982,687
Average Annual Spending After Career $314,460
Average Annual Spending After Career w/ No Fines $438,974
Impact of Fines 28%

So the savings that he would likely have after this season would give him a sustainable income of $314,000 a year. With no fines or suspensions, that income would've been about $439,000 a year. So it's a big bite, though he should still be able to live comfortably for the rest of his life. "Should" being the key word there.
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